Learning to Breathe Again (27 page)

“
It would be my pleasure,
Mr. Williams,” she giggled as she nodded. “Will I need to dress up
again?”

“
Clothes will be optional,”
he told her with a wink.

Bayleigh laughed and turned
to open her door. “Who said we needed to take this slow? Oh, yeah,
that would have been
you
!” she tossed back over her shoulder as she slid out of the
cab.

Jack chuckled as he joined her at the front
of the trunk. “Can’t blame a guy for trying,” he whispered in her
ear as they turned to walk into the hospital, his hand low on her
back. She glanced at him and rolled her eyes.

“
Let’s go find your family,”
she told him, shaking her head. But her own arm slipped around his
waist as they walked side-by-side into the hospital.

THE NEXT FEW WEEKS FLEW BY for Bayleigh. The
ice storm had been Winter’s last hurrah for the Hill Country and
Spring had arrived and the Texas Bluebonnets took over the fields.
The sight was breathtaking. Jack had taken her out to a meadow on
his property where the flowers were so blue and thick, you’d have
sworn it was a lake. They’d spent the afternoon cuddled up together
on a blanket spread out on the edge of the flowers, talking.

She’d also spent a lot of time reconnecting
with her brother and getting to know her sister-in-law. She and
Nicole were a lot alike and she enjoyed spending time with her.
Most evenings, Jack came over to the house and the four of them had
dinner together. And at least once a week, there was a family
dinner at ‘the main house’, as everyone called Helen’s and Steve’s
house.

With Jason’s help, Bayleigh had also found a
therapist and started therapy for her PTSD. Her panic attacks and
nightmares were happening less frequently; she hadn’t had a
nightmare since shortly after moving in with her brother. And the
panic attacks only happened if a stranger got too close.

But every weekend, she spent a large chunk of
time alone with Jack. He usually found things in or around Waketon
to show her, but sometimes they’d just spend the day around the
ranch. There’d been a few bumps in the road, like the karaoke night
they met up with Jason and Nicole and a few of their friends at the
bar for night. Unfortunately, one of Jack’s former lovers was in
also at the bar. The other woman had joined their group and
situated herself right next to Jack, her hands constantly touching
him.

Bayleigh only tolerated it for a short period
of time before she grabbed the woman’s wrist as she moved to touch
Jack on the chest. Again.

“
I am only going to say this
once: you touch him again and you may lose this,” Bayleigh shook
the woman’s wrist, making her hand flop.

“
Really, Jack. You used to
date women with more class. Are you taking on the pity crowd now?”
the woman had huffed, flipping her platinum blonde hair back over
her shoulder with a practiced move. Her calculating eyes roved over
the boots, jeans and western shirt. “Where’s your cowboy hat,
honey?” she sneered.

“
Katherine, I think you need
to leave,” Nicole told the other woman.

“
Good luck with him, honey.
He’s great in the…”

Jack’s hand settled on Bayleigh’s thigh as
she moved to stand up. “Katherine, you need to think long and hard
about what you are about to start here. Don’t forget who all is at
this table and what is at stake for not just you, but your family,”
Jack warned, his voice cold.

Katherine stepped back, her gaze moving
around the table, seeing everyone’s eyes on her. With a huff and
another toss of her hair, she stomped off.

Bayleigh watched her go through narrowed
eyes, feeling everyone else at the table glancing between her and
Jack. She turned her eyes to him and cocked her head to the
side.

“
You slept with
that?”

“
Maybe,” he answered, his
tone cautious.

“
How’d you avoid her sinking
her claws into you and keeping you?”

“
Years of practice with
evasive maneuvers,” his arm slid around her shoulders and pulled
her against his side.

“
Funny thing, though…I
haven’t wanted to use them with you,” he whispered against her ear.
Bayleigh ducked her head to hide the blush she felt stealing over
her cheeks.

Today, he’d saddled up two of his uncles
horses and took her on a trail ride around the property. She’d had
fun and loved being back on a horse, but was now paying the price.
They’d returned to her brother’s house so they could clean up
before Jack took her ‘somewhere special’.

“
My butt is not used to
being in the saddle,” she told him groaning as she moved towards
the stairs.

“
I can massage it for you,”
he offered, stopping her with a hand on her arm and giving her a
kiss.

“
God help me,” Jason
muttered, walking past them, but giving Bayleigh a wink.

“
Paybacks!” Jack called
after him, as he bent and swept Bayleigh up in his arms.

“
Jack!” she shrieked,
laughing as he carried her up the stairs to her room.

“
Just trying to help,” he
smiled as he set her on her feet next to her bed. “Yell down to me
and I’ll carry you back down the stairs, too,” he promised with a
wink. “Can’t have my girl hurting, now, can I?”

“
Bayleigh, I don’t know what
magic spell you’ve woven, but please, don’t undo it! Jack is so
much easier to get along with these days,” Nicole laughed from the
doorway.

“
Too bad love didn’t have
the same effect on you,” Jack muttered, as he turned to frown at
his friend. “I’m going downstairs to clean up. How long do you
need?” he asked Bayleigh, who was already pulling clean clothes out
of the dresser.

“
Not long, twenty, no make
that thirty minutes,” she said, glancing in the mirror and seeing
the state of her hair. “I need to wash and dry my hair,” she
frowned at her reflection. Jack laughed and headed out of the room,
Nicole grinned at her and followed him, harassing him the entire
way down the stairs, from the sounds of it. Those two really did
act like brother and sister most of the time.

Bayleigh glanced at the clock and headed for
the bathroom. She would be cutting it close to get her hair washed
and dried and be ready to head back out with Jack. He hadn’t told
her what they were doing next, just to dress casual but warm.

Thirty minutes later, Bayleigh eased her way
down the stairs. She could hear everyone else in the kitchen, so
she made her way down the hallway to the large room in the back of
the house.

“
Hey, there. Doing ok?” Jack
was at her side in an instant, taking her hand.

“
Yup. The shower helped ease
some of the soreness.”

“
You ready to take a little
ride with me, then?” he asked, sliding an arm around her waist and
pulling her a little closer to him.

“
Not if it means getting
back up on a horse,” she raised her eyebrows at him.

“
No, just my truck,” he
assured her.

“
You guys better get going
if you’re going to make it up to the ridge,” Nicole interrupted,
handing a thermos to Jack. “I made you some coffee, extra-strong.
Do you need anything else?”

“
Nope, I have what I need,”
Jack laced his fingers with hers and headed for the back
door.

“
Be careful and watch your
step. There’s a bit of a climb,” Jason warned, glancing down at
Bayleigh’s leg.

She shook her head with a soft smile as she
answered her brother. “It hasn’t bothered me in weeks, Jason. I’ll
be fine,” she reassured her brother.

“
I’ll help her over any
rough spots. I was up there the other day and checked it out. She
should be okay,” Jack assured him, his hand resting low on her
back.

“
I’ll be fine,” Bayleigh
smiled at her brother. “Quit worrying about me so much!”

“
He can’t help it, Bayleigh.
It’s ingrained in his DNA or something,” Nicole told her with a
smirk at her husband. “You two get going before you miss the
sunset!”

“
Thanks, Nicole. We’ll see
you two later, then,” Jack grabbed the thermos with one hand and
Bayleigh’s hand with the other. “We have plenty of time to get up
there.”

Bayleigh glanced over as he drove over the
backroads that cut across all three properties. “So, what exactly
is this place?”

“
Back in high school, there
were a few times when things got rough between Ma, Pop and myself.
Mostly teenage-angst type crap, but sometimes stuff about my mom
would come up. I needed somewhere to go where no one would bother
me, where I could just think it through, come to terms with all the
shit. I would spend hours up there. The view is amazing, especially
at this time of day.” He parked the truck at the bottom of a hill
and came around to her side to help her down from the
cab.

“
It’s only a short walk from
here, but up the hill. Do you think you can make it?” he grimaced.
“When I was up here the other day, I made sure the ground was
smooth and free of any rocks to stumble over, but I didn’t think
about you being saddle-sore from our ride.”

“
I’ll be fine, Jack. So,
where’s this awesome view you promised me?”

“
Hold on, I just need to
grab a couple of things,” he reached back into the truck and
grabbed a blanket, folding it over his arm. “I’ll leave the thermos
down here, for after. Nicole was right, we’ll probably need it
then.” He took her hand and led the way up the hillside.

Jack had been right, it was only a short walk
up to the top of the hill where they could look out over the
landscape. But man, was her butt letting her know it did not
appreciate the abuse she’d been dishing out today. She stopped
short when they reached the top of the hill and it flattened out,
allowing her to see out over the landscape.

“
Oh, wow!” Bayleigh breathed
as she got her first look. “This is beautiful!” She moved to edge
of the ridge to look out. “I can see why you’d come up here to
think. It’s so quiet and peaceful,” she wrapped her arms around
herself as the wind picked up. “Chilly, but beautiful.”

“
That’s why I brought the
blanket,” Jack moved to stand behind her, his arms wrapping around
her and pulling her back against his chest. She relaxed and rested
her head against his shoulder. “Are you warm enough?”

“
I am now,” she nodded, her
arms resting on top of his. She could feel the steady rise and fall
of his chest against her back. “It’s so peaceful,” she said again,
looking out over the landscape. Jack’s arms tightened around her
and he pulled her closer.

“
Yes, it is. And as
beautiful as you,” he whispered, kissing her neck and sending
shivers of awareness down her spine.

Bayleigh turned in his arms, her hands
sliding up his arms to clasp together behind his neck. “Can I ask
you something?”

“
Anything, anytime. You know
that,” he answered, his hands going to her waist and pulling her
tight against him.

Bayleigh swallowed hard, but
kept her gaze locked on his.
Now or never,
time to jump.

“
Will you make love to me?
Now?” she whispered.

Jack sucked in a breath and his hands gripped
her waist tighter. “Are you sure?”

“
No, but I know I…want
you,”
Oh, my God. She did not just about
say the “l” word. Not this early in…whatever this was between
them
. She bit her lip and looked up at him
through her eyelashes, praying she wasn’t going to regret this.
“I’m more scared of the not knowing and possibly losing out on the
best thing I ever had.”